


Stadium Lights

by bansheee



Category: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Book Spoilers, Boys Kissing, Bram POV, Football | Soccer, Happy Ending, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 14:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10968909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bansheee/pseuds/bansheee
Summary: anonymous asked: please write a fic where simon goes to one of bram's gamesHe wouldn’t let the assholes in his school get to him now. For the first time in his life Bram had someone sitting in the stands cheering just for him.(Parents totally didn’t count.)





	Stadium Lights

**Author's Note:**

> there are notes at the end of the story regarding the tags for homophobia.

Bram Greenfeld was going to die at the tender age of seventeen and it was all because of his boyfriend.  
  
He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall of the school. Simon placed a line of kisses down his jaw and Bram took a shaky breath. If he was going to go out, this was the way he wanted it to be. He twisted his fingers into the soft fabric of the soccer jersey Simon was wearing.  
  
Simon laughed at him when he offered it the previous night. They had one of those study dates where they sat on the couch while Simon’s mom ‘gave them space’ by hovering in the kitchen. Bram asked if he wanted to wear it to school like some of the other players’ significant others.  
  
“Like the other players’ girlfriends,” Simon had pointed out.  
  
“It’s only heteronormative if you make it heteronormative,” Bram told him, grinning at Simon’s surprised laugher.  
  
Still, Simon took the jersey. It was Bram’s for away games; he almost lost it in the hallway at school that morning when he saw Simon wearing it, a coy smile twisting when he noticed Bram staring. Bram wanted to push him up against the lockers and kiss him right there in front of all of their friends and classmates, but it the hallway was too public of a place.  
  
“I’m going to be late,” Bram tried to argue, making no effort to move away from Simon’s mouth. He felt Simon’s breath against his ear, heard his quiet, mischievous chuckle.  
  
“I’m totally okay living with that,” Simon whispered.  
  
And, okay, Bram was wearing soccer shorts, and Simon’s mouth was back against his neck. Even though it was February, heat prickled across his skin.  
  
“Simon! Stop making out with your boyfriend or we aren’t going to get good seats!” Abby’s voice came from around the corner of the school building. They were hidden away from the pre-game traffic, and Bram wished they could just stay there forever.  
  
Simon pressed his face into the crook of Bram’s neck and laughed softly. “Nooo, they found us,” he muttered into Bram’s skin. Bram loved how perfectly they fit together, so he wrapped his arms around Simon’s waist. He lifted his hand up to look at his watch and sighed.  
  
“I'll see you after,” Bram said, resting his head against Simon’s for a moment. Simon stood up straight, and Bram did the same.  
  
“Fine,” Simon said with a sulky expression. “Go be my soccer star boyfriend.”  
  
Bram laughed quietly and gave Simon one more kiss. “Okay.”  
  
Abby, Nick, and Garrett came around the corner just as Simon stepped away from him. All three of them wore matching smirks that made Simon’s cheeks go an adorable shade of red. Bram reached over and grabbed Simon’s hand.  
  
“We’ll see you guys after?” Nick asked, to which Abby and Simon both nodded.  
  
“Leah has seats for us,” Abby announced, looking up from her phone.  
  
“Leah’s here?” Garrett asked. Bram grinned at his surprised expression.  
  
“We bribed her with WaHo after you guys win,” Simon explained. Bram couldn’t help but look at him and grinned at his bright smile. Sometimes he felt like he fell more in love with Simon every time he smiled.  
  
Bram squeezed Simon’s hand before letting go. As other students and some parents started to mingle around them Bram knew it was too public to kiss Simon goodbye, so he shot Simon another smile before walking away with Garrett. Simon’s understanding, sad smile matched his.  
  
Seeing Simon in his jersey was a surprise to Bram that morning. The publicity of their relationship was a tedious balancing act with the assholes at their school. His and Simon’s Facebooks both linked to each other and they always held hands under the lunch table – finally, a lefty perk – but they usually saved anything more than that for quiet corners of the school or away from Creekwood High all together.  
  
It was okay for them to be gay if it wasn’t seen.  
  
Bram hated it, but he knew Simon got a lot more shit at school than he did. Bram played a sport and Simon did theater, so clearly that meant Simon was the one to attack with hateful slurs in the hallway.  
  
He wouldn’t let the assholes in his school get to him now. For the first time in his life Bram had someone sitting in the stands cheering just for him.  
  
Parents totally didn’t count.  
  
Simon was there to cheer for him and he was going to dig his cleats into the dirt and help his team win the game. Creekwood won the coin toss against Harbor Heights so Bram waited, nerves running rampant, for the whistle to be blown. It was the first game of the year and their coach had nothing but high expectations for everyone.  
  
He wanted to be the big soccer star that Simon thought he was. His hands shook, so he put them on his knees and watched Garrett get ready for the kickoff.  
  
At the whistle, Garrett immediately passed the ball to Spencer and Bram ran down the field with the rest of the players. He sidestepped around the player from Harbor Heights, grinning as he did so, and called for Spencer. Bram saw Spencer look to him before scanning the rest of the field. After making it down the field he attempted to pass the ball to Aaron Figgs, but lost it mid pass to one of the Harbor Heights players. Bram rolled his eyes and jogged towards their goal to try to get the ball back. He was a forward so he watched as Nick tried to sneak in and steal the pass back, but the other player was too quick and before the team could realize what was happening, the Harbor Heights player scored.  
  
“Dude, Spencer, I was open,” Bram said as they jogged back. He tried not to sound too serious as it was just the start of the game, but he knew Spencer was trying to get a sport scholarship and it wouldn’t look good if they lost a play because of him.  
  
“Whatever, Greenfag.”  
  
Bram froze.  
  
At first, he was sure he was the only one who heard it. Spencer wouldn’t be stupid enough to say something like that where anyone but the target could hear it.  
  
His throat felt like it was closing on him as his pulse skyrocketed. Comments from random anonymous assholes in the hallway were one thing, but Bram played on a team with Spencer since he first moved to Shady Creek his freshman year.  
  
“What the fuck did you just say to him?” Garrett was in Spencer’s face in half of a second.  
  
“Garrett, don’t.” Bram didn’t want Garrett to get benched or suspended because of some stupid comment.  
  
Garrett didn’t back down and one of the referees blew a whistle to stop the gameplay. For the fact that Spencer was significantly smaller than Garrett, he didn’t back down to Garrett being in his face. More of their teammates ran over to see what was going on and when Garrett told them, Bram felt like his legs were going to give out under him. He took a shaky breath and took a step back from Garrett and Spencer. Everything was quiet in the stands as everyone tried to figure out what was going on with the Creekwood team. From the sidelines their coach called for a timeout.  
  
Nick’s put his hand on Bram’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Are you okay?”

 

Bram closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m fine. Make sure Garrett doesn’t punch Spencer.”  
  
Their coach stormed right up to Garrett and Spencer. “What the hell is going on here?” He was a meticulous hot head and Bram knew he was containing himself from yelling at both boys.  
  
“Spencer called Bram a – the F word,” Garrett said before Spencer could speak.  
  
Their coach whipped his head towards Spencer. “Is that true?”  
  
Spencer at least had the decency to look ashamed to an authority figure. “It’s just not natural! What if he tries to cop a feel in the locker room?”  
  
“Dude, _no one_ wants to cop a feel off you, you fucking ugly piece of—”  
  
“Laughlin!” Coach scolded. Garrett shut his mouth but didn’t unclench his fists. Their coach turned to Spencer. “You’re benched for the rest of the game.”  
  
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Spencer argued.  
  
“Say anything else and it’ll be for the season,” their coach replied, crossing his arms over his chest in finality. Bram wanted to curl in a ball and disappear. Several of his teammates and all of the opposing team were staring at him.  
  
“I’m a senior!” Spencer argued, “You’re really going to screw up my chance to get a scholarship because of some junior homo?”  
  
Bram wasn’t sure if he was more shocked at Spencer’s nerve, or the speed in which Garrett tackled him to the ground. Garrett got one good – possibly nose breaking – blow in before Nick grabbed him and pulled him off Spencer. There were gasps from the stands and Bram wished he knew where Simon was sitting. He wished he could just bury himself in Simon’s arms and cry.  
  
Their coach pulled Spencer up from the ground with minor care for the fact that his nose was bleeding down his chin. He dragged him away by the jersey and Bram could hear him telling Spencer that colleges would look at a suspension for hate speech and harassment towards a marginalized student before they looked at skill on the soccer field. Word of what happened must have spread towards the stands because a small group of spectators in the student section started cheering as their coach dragged Spencer off the field.  
  
Bram didn’t remember much else from the game that night. He tried to take the anger he felt at Spencer and play as hard as he could, but Creekwood was so distracted by the incident with Spencer that they lost the game.  
  
Even with the loss, there was still a satisfying sort of feeling in the air of the field and a comforting warmth in the brightness of the buzzing stadium lights.  
  
Bram found Simon in the crowd of students rushing the field. His teammates’ chatter seemed to fade around him as Simon ran towards him, expression etched with concern. Simon crashed into him with a rib-shattering hug and Bram wanted to collapse in his arms.  
  
“If Garrett didn’t punch him and make him leave I’m pretty sure Leah would have cut his tires,” Simon muttered. “Abby was going to break his windshield with a baseball bat and I would have put it on YouTube.”  
  
Bram laughed into Simon’s neck. “I love you,” he replied quietly.  
  
Simon pulled back so he could look at Bram. Bram rested his arms on Simon’s shoulders and Simon held onto his biceps. He watched Simon look around them.  
  
For once, no one was paying them any attention. Both Bram and Simon looked to where a few of their teammates suddenly started whooping and cheering.  
  
“Oh my freaking god,” Simon said. Bram let out a surprised laugh.  
  
Leah had a hand on Garrett’s very red cheek as she planted a kiss on his mouth. After a second of shock, Garrett enthusiastically returned the gesture, pulling her close to him.  
  
Simon looked back to him. “I totally wish we could do that,” he joked. Bram didn’t miss the bittersweet inflection in his tone.  
  
Bram didn’t know if it was the adrenaline from the game or the sad, hopeful expression on Simon’s face that motivated him more. After that night, after Spencer and all the other assholes at their school, Bram was absolutely done hiding. He spent so much time hiding who he was when Simon was nothing more than words on his computer screen; now that Simon was there and in his arms, Bram didn’t want to hide himself anymore.  
  
“So let’s do it,” Bram said to him, raising an eyebrow, quietly challenging and silently questioning.  
  
Simon grinned and put both of his hands on Bram’s cheeks. Bram did the same and didn’t wait a second longer to pull him in to the best kiss of Bram’s life. There were a few random cheers from their peers around them, but all Bram cared about was the feeling of Simon’s mouth on his under the bright lights of the field.

**Author's Note:**

> tag details: one Bram's teammates calls Bram the F word, and throws other homophobic insults at him during their game. It is immediately shut down by their teammates and the coach, and is not accepted by the characters, nor written in a glorifying way.
> 
> [my tumblr is here](http://cutebramgreenfeld.tumblr.com) if you want to talk about Simon vs. or send me fic requests!


End file.
